HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004 Resolution No. 051• RESOLUTION NO . ?_/
SER I ES OF 2004
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.-1 RE SOLUTION AUT HORIZ ING TIIE EN ,LEIVOOD PUIJLI LIB RA RY TO
l ~I PL EMENT T HE SU~l ~I ER "F O D FOR FINE "Pt(OGRA~I FRO~! MONDAY, M ,I \' ~4
T II ROUG H SUN DA\'. JUNE 6. ~0 04.
\\'I-I EREAS. the Eng lewood Public Li bra ry ha s sponsored :1 "Foo d for Finl's" progr;un durin g
the No\C mbi:r/Dccc mbc r ho li da ys fo r the.! pas1 fourtee n years; and
WHERE ;\S, the "Food fo r Fini!s" pro gra m .:1ll ows patro ns with overdue fi nes to "pa y" th em
off through the do n:nion o f non •pcri sh:1blc food it ems; and
\VI-IERE 1\ S. the food i1cms .ire then fo rwa rded to th e IntcrFai 1h Co mmunit y Se rvices fo r thei r
"food bnnk" distribution to financial ly di sa dva nt aged fami li es in th e Eng lewoo d area; and
WH EREAS. th e program is a b,mdit to th e community in that the di sad,1ant age J arc assisted ;
th e air cl ea red with respec t to fine s; th e Cit y rec eives it s li brary materi als bac k and the prog ram
prese nt s a posi ti ve ima ge o r th e Library anc! the Cit y.
NO W, TliEREFORE , BE IT RESO LVED BY HIE C ITY COUNCI L OF THE CITY OF
ENG LEWOOD, COLORADO, Tli A T :
Sec tio n I. The Englewood City Co un cil hereby auth ori zes the Englew ood Public Librnry 's
impl eme nt ation o f the Summer "Fo od For Fine s" prog ram fr om Monda y, May 24, through
Sund ay , Junt: 6, 2004 . Th i: "F oo <l Fo r Fine s" wi ll th en be fonv;1rdcd to th e lnt erF:1ith Comm unit y
Se rvices fo r di stri bu ti on to finan ciall y di sadva nta ge d familie s in th e Eng lewoo d .irea .
ADOPT ED AND APPROVED thi s 3rd day of M ay. 2004 .
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COUNCIL COM \,IUNICATION
Date : Age nda Item: Subject :
Engl ewood Pub li c Li b rary's 2004
M ay 3, 1004 10 c i "S umm er Foo d for Fin es" Progril m
Initiat ed By:
Libra ry D epartm ent
I Staff Source:
Hank Long, Dir ec tor of Library Serv ices
COUNCIL GOAL AND PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION
Th e Library has spons o red this popular program for th e past 14 ye ars, and eac h yea r th e City
Council has voice d its support. In 2003, th e "Food for Fines " program wa s expa nded at th e reque st
o f th e Libr ary Boa rd to cover two weeks during th e sum me· as well as two weeks at th e end of th e
ca lendar yea r as a way to mitigate th e in crease in Overdue Lib rary Fines and as a way to encourage
th e tim ely return of EPL materi als sr th at th ey can be us ed by more people. Th e two weeks of th e
Sum m er Food for Fin es program covers th e last week of th e public scho ol yea r and the first week of
vaca ti ons, a tim e durin g which students and teachers are cleaning 001 their des ks and lockers in
preparation for th e su mmer break and numerous ove rdu e Library materials are 'mi rac ul ous ly'
dis covered. Last year, th e two week "S ummer Foo d for Fines • effort result ed in approxi mately
$1,100 in do nated food items fo r th e lnterF ai th Community Serv ices foo d bank, with another
$1,550 in es timated donations coming fr om o ur two week "Winter Food fo r Fin es• program. W e
expect similar res ults agai n this year.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Th e Libra ry Department reco mm ends Ci ty Counci l approva l of a reso lution auth orizin g th e Library
Department to implem ent its 2004 "Summer Food fo r Fi nes• program f:om Monday, May 24
th rough Sunday, June 6, 2004.
BACKGROUND, ANALYSIS, AND ALTERNATIVES IDENTIFIED
Fo r th e pas t 14 years, the Engl ewoo d Public Libra ry has spon sored its "Fo o d fo r Fines" program
w hi ch all ows patro ns Nith fin es on thei r overdu e EPL books and o th er materi als to "pay" th em off
th roug,1 th e donat io n of non-peris hable food items, e.g. o ne food ite m cancels ou t th e late charges
(not los t or damaged charges) on one overdu e item. Th ese food items must be presented to th e
Library Staff at the Ci rculati o n Desk in o rd er fo r th e fines to be clea red from th e patron 's computer
record . The co ll ec ted food items are th en fo rward ed to Interfaith Community Services fo r th eir
"food bank " di stribution to fi nancia ll y dis adva ntag ed fa mili es in th e En glewood area . This progr,1111
ha s been warmly rece iv ed by th e pub li c si nce its i nce pti o n, and Library patrons now look forwa rd to
it. Besid es prov idi ng reso ur ces to needy families in thi s co mmnnitv, th e pr og ram presen ts a posi tive
image o f th e Lib rary and th e Ci ty, i.e . a "win-w in" situati on fo, ;o ne in volved. The "Summ er
Food for Fin es " program and th e "Winter Food fo r Fines " each , un fo r a two wee k peri od .
FINANC IAL IMPACT
• Sin ce its in cep tion , lhi s prog ram has raised an es tim ated $18,5 00 in donated food it ems to
ass ist needy fa mili es in th e Engl ewood area.
• Th e Library hi stori ca ll y ave ra ges S 1,200-S 1,500 per m onth in coll ec ted "late c harges" (i.e .
charges o n b ooks and o th er il ems returned pasl th eir o ri ginal "due dal e" and pas l 1h 3 da y
grace period). Th is reven ue goes inlo 1h e City's General Fund .
Hi sl o ricall y, l his am oun l of overdu e fin es has dropped l o an ave rag e of $800-$1,000 p er
m onlh during o ur ann ual FFF programs w hi ch mea ns 1h a1 lh e Ci ty lose, several hundred
do ll ars in reven ues as a res ult of lhi s effort. H owever, lh at loss is m ore than offse l b y th e
"good w ill " this p rog ram Re nerates among Library pa tro ns and b y ge lling th e Library
mat eri als ba c k on th e sh elves for o th ers to use.
LIST OF ATTACHMENTS
Pr o po se d Reso luti on
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